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graphic memoir draft

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micro graphic memoir: the wall above my desk

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this advertisement is by someone who sells tutorials and workshops for knitting and crocheting, and they encourage people who consider themselves as crafters to interact with their brand, which associates the brand with community, aesthetic vacations, and creativity

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“selfie a day” project

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A Woman Named Ruth

I become new at night

I die at 2 in the morning

inside away from the view of others

I meet my eyes in the mirror

what a punchy face she’s got

a voice that crackles like

an age old radio transmitter

tucked into some dusty closet corner

see the pudgy fat of a hip’s curve

built to bite and hold and hide away

some voyeuristic sadomasochistic sight

like dance floors with fluorescent lights up

and alcohol cleaner spray bottle stings

and moleskin patches pasted to ankles

this woman

this madonna whore

who makes herself mythic

with hair and paint and coffin nails

that scratch and tear and mangle and 

require the constant upkeep of skilled hands

I’ve an appointment tomorrow morning (today)

with a dear friend Mara

she’s good people, you see

I’ll rise at 10 am to hands in hair

she’ll fix the chip in the casket and 

make me up for the price of 

a kiss and a well-cooked meal

outside looking in they'll say

look! before they draw the curtains!

(they’re already too late)

there’s the madonna now!

through the window frame: the glimpse 

of a barefoot housewife the

respectable side of The Lady

(since of course we know

there's just the two)

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a mini-podcast episode about my feelings on the college ave academic buildings, HGTV, and panopticons

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on confessions:

this one is a bit less serious; it's confessional in the same way that a friend might tell you about their childhood crush on a cartoon character. most of the readings for class portray confession as always about something monumental, but it can also show up in smaller ways like this.

One thing to know about me is that I also have an annotated copy of the illiad. It’s an abridged version from my childhood and every time Hector’s name is mentioned it’s surrounded by glitter-gel pen hearts bc he was my first crush as a child.

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on confessions:

our first reading for our class was st. augustine, which is probably the most fitting for a section called "confessions". he was, after all, the theologian that was so instrumental in making christianity a religion so based on feelings of guilt and shame over topics like sexuality. in this poem, the poet recalls his experiences as a sixteen year old trans man in the closet, and the painful feelings of hiding one's true self to appease his parents. in this, there is the confession of one's true self, how much he had to hide it, and how much pain it caused him to do so. by publishing this, the poet exposes a rawness that many are not willing to do, but in such a way that is reflective and hopeful.

To be sixteen again by Keaton St. James

Prompt courtesy of this list from @nosebleedclub

[poem text: “to be sixteen again” & swimming for whole afternoons through the half-cool lake water & the shining mud, drying my sunburnt body in the shade of the sycamore tree, carving runes into rocks with arrowheads, keeping my hair long & wild. boys

like me understood one truth: that when we coaxed fish hooks out of the soles of our bare feet, we did not weep at the blood. & when our mothers draped us in their summer jewelry, smeared their blush on our cheek-

bones, told us to stay quiet & behave like beautiful young girls, we could not weep then either. but sometimes, as we lay in our sleeping bags looking up at the stars, we let ourselves dream city apartments with windowsills full of plants, kitchen cabinets

stocked with cinnamon canisters & vegetable broths, piles of scuffed shoes by the door, ours & our lover’s. these adult apartments with the space enough to name ourselves anything we wanted, where we could embrace the echoes of the bodies

we were gently leaving behind. /end poem text]

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katerina's introduction post

About Me: My name is Katerina and I use she/they pronouns! Currently I'm a freshman looking into a minor in creative writing. My hobbies include reading, writing, knitting, and taking care of my house plants :)

Questions:

which media are you most interested in trying out?

I am most interested in trying out video-making, since I've never really experimented with that form of media. By taking this class I hope to try out something new, since most of my creative work tends to be more traditional writing.

what's your approach to the concept of "confession"?

I think that the word "confession" brings to mind a lot of big, lofty concepts, like catholicism and admitting to a big crime. However, I think that confession also comes in smaller ways in one's life between yourself and other people whose opinion matters to you. Confession is letting the other person better know what kind of person you are, and hoping that they accept it and you. In terms of online personas, however, this can create a power dynamic that can be unhealthy.

Do you tend to overshare, or keep things to yourself.

I think that I tend to keep things to myself.

Do you believe the personal is political?

I do think that the personal can be political. A lot of the time, people just exist as they are and other people declare their existence as "political" (ex: visibly queer/trans people). To say that a person's sense of self exists fully outside of politics is a somewhat privileged way of thinking.